HIGHER EDUCATION

Supporting Our Higher Education Allies

As a union a flagship institution of higher education, GAU supports our partners and allies in fighting for well-funded, affordable, accessible, and flexible education, as well as mentally and physically safe work conditions that facilitate learning, and academic freedom, job security, fair wages, and much more.

What We're Fighting For

"UF is a Top 10 public university and we would like them to treat graduate employees like they are in the top 10."

About 1 in 3 graduate employees at the University of Florida earn below the federal poverty level after they pay taxes, and more than 10% experience food insecurity.

We firmly believe education is a human right that should be provided absent any form of discrimination. Higher education is more important than ever before. That is why GAU continually fights for for greater access, higher salaries, the elimination of non-tuition student fees, and for increased availability of campus resources and employment benefits for graduate employees.

Statements of Support

2019

​University of Tulsa, Spring 2019

Hello Sisters and Brothers,

Higher ed is under attack at the University of Tulsa (TU). Please read below about what's happening and what you can do to help the faculty, current and future students, and alumni of of TU.

What's going on:The administration of TU has recently released a strategic plan to gut social sciences, humanities, and the arts.

The plan is outlined vaguely in a report called the "True Commitment," which can be found at https://www.tuplan.org/. The long and short of it, however, is that university plans to eliminate 40% of their academic programs, eliminate all of the departments in the College of Arts and Sciences (including English, Political Science, and Sociology), and collapse their Law, Business, and Health Sciences programs into one "Professional Super College."

Unsurprisingly, this plan was not made in the sunshine. Instead being concocted behind closed doors in only 8 months by ten faculty members and one dean hand-picked by the provost. . . A process we are becoming all too familiar with here in the supposed sunshine state.

Why this matters for us:This brazen attempt at transforming a well-respected institution of higher education into another McCollege is part of a larger assault on higher education that we've seen occurring all over the country in recent years and here in Florida. And it matters to us here for at least three reasons.

First, the plan to roll their Law, Business, and Health Sciences programs into one "Professional Super College" indicates a short-sighted focus on trendy degree programs that undermines the role of colleges and universities in providing the public good of knowledge and a knowledgeable, responsible citizenry. What's more, this focus on in-demand, trendy programs smacks of a backdoor attack on tenure like we've seen at Florida Polytechnic and the State College of Florida.

Second, The lack of transparency and haste in drawing up the plan is something we've started to see a lot of here in Florida. We cannot stand for this closed-door type of governance in Florida or elsewhere. We must stand for students and faculty everywhere, lest we accept its normalization.

Third, this plan singles out the humanities and social sciences for the chopping block. The production of humanities and social science knowledge is something that is almost entirely done in the academy, and if support for these types of degree programs and research is lost in the academy. They are lost. Period. Many of us devote our lives, careers, and sanity to producing and disseminating this humanities and social science work. We must defend it whenever and wherever it is threatened.

What you can do to help:Take a stand against this misguided attempt to reshape higher education at TU in the image of a cold, single-minded corporation by signing the online petition and by e-mailing the President and Provost. When writing, respectfully let them know you'd like to continue seeing TU thrive as a institution of higher education and that this plan threatens their reputation in the eyes of faculty and graduate students here in Florida.